WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University (12-5, 6-2 MAAC) closed out the final 8:49 of the game with five unanswered goals to break a 9-9 tie and lift the Hawks over Niagara University (6-12, 3-5) 14-9 in the opening round of the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Monmouth was led by sophomore Claudia LaMarca (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional), who scored five goals in the contest, while winning six draw controls. Junior Marial Pierce (Middleburg, Va./St. John’s Catholic Prep) and sophomore Olivia Higson (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girls School each had three points for the Hawks.
“I thought Niagara had a really nice game plan, they switched their defense and showed us stuff we didn’t see the first time we played them,” said Monmouth Head Coach Denise Wescott. “I thought our team handled the pressure that they put on us at the end when they tied it. To believe in themselves enough to get the goals we needed. It’s great that we scored the last five goals, I thought we owned the last three or four minutes of the game.”
Niagara’s Carrie-Jo Farrugia tallied a pair of goals in the opening two minutes of the second half to cut Monmouth’s lead to 6-5. LaMarca’s third goal of the game pushed MU’s lead to two and a free position goal from Allison Stathius (Delran, N.J./Delran) had the Hawks up 8-5 with 16:54 to play. But the Purple Eagles scored four out of the next five goals and Taylor Wolf’s unassisted marker with 10:23 remaining tied the game up at 9-9.
At that point the Monmouth offense took over on a five-goal run, jumpstarted by Higson’s unassisted goal with 8:49 left. Pierce and LaMarca scored at the 6:28 and 3:53 marks, respectively before junior Michelle Gonzales (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) scored with 1:55 remaining and Monmouth led 13-9. Senior Emily Barbieri (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic) capped the scoring with 35 seconds left.
Monmouth took control early, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the opening 12 minutes before Niagara’s Hannah Barnett tallied back to back goals to cut the lead to two. LaMarca tallied a pair of goals at the 5:32 and with six seconds left to lift the Hawks to a 6-3 lead at the break.
Defender Kristina Vangeli (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) led the back line with three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Monmouth led in shots 24-22 and had one more draw control than the Purple Eagles with 13. Niagara goalie Andrea Francisco had five saves while Monmouth’s Katie Donohoe (Peterborough, Ontario/Holy Cross Secondary School) finished with three.
Monmouth will play second-seeded Fairfield on Friday in the semifinals held at Canisius College.